The Things You Carry

Norm Abrams is totally punk

They say that by the time a spirit is named, it’s dead. And by “they,” I mean that guy who wrote that in a comic book I remember reading once.

For some reason, that line sprung to mind when I read this article about the band Gruk. I’ve never heard of Gruk before, but that’s the only thing that comes up when you type “anticonsumerist” into Google news. (Sorry if I’ve given away some of my blogging secrets.) I’ve listened to them since. They rock.

But it seems it’s not enough just to have tight guitar-work, solid bass lines and some real old-school, 90s-punk screaming. In the article, writer Christine G.K. LaPado describes the band as “fiercly DIY” and describes DIY as “Do It Yerself, an anticonsumerist political stance focusing on self-reliance.”

Being a former green-haired, tattoo-wielding, wishy-washy little punk poseur, I had heard the term DIY before, but never as an anticonsumerist political stance focusing on self-reliance. I had heard it in terms of “they’re really DIY,” while I nodded my spinach-coiffed head as if I knew what they were talking about.

Now, Wikipedia - that source of information for and by the uninformed - has three separate articles on DIY: DIY, DIY ethic and DIY culture.

Cut-and-pasted directly from the DIY culture article:

“Some commentators have criticised DIY culture as a form of laissez-faire libertarianism only available to those who already have access to resources and leisure in this society.”

Cut-and-pasted from the DIY ethic article:

“The term can indicate “doing” anything from home improvements and repairs to healthcare, from publication to electronics.”

Thoughts on the first quote: Who are these commentators? Who is getting paid to call things “laissez-faire libertarianism” and how do I get that job? Most of the jobs I’ve had involved either bookstores or lifting and hauling things.

Thoughts on the second quote: Health care? Health care?

Now taking it all together: What the hell? I don’t want to mock people who have decided that we don’t need all the services and products available through one simple swipe of the credit card, but do you have to name it? Let’s give it a different name than “DIY ethic.” Let’s just call it “doing stuff.”

Granted, during my teen years, my dad could have gotten me to be more helpful around the house if he had managed to convince me it was punk. Somehow, building Adirondack chairs for the back yard didn’t scream Dead Kennedys to me.

My point is that naming the basic concept of being a capable, competent human being as “an anticonsumerist political stance” is not only silly, but counterproductive. I agree with the message, but not with the means. Yes, you can make your own chair, your own clothes, your own crafts. No, you don’t need to buy that stuff. But don’t alienate other people with your pompous acronyms. I don’t need to read about the sociological implications of knitting. I don’t need to hear about “DIY,” about “craftivism,” about politics and silk screening.

Other people will associate making their own stuff with punk and most people, sorry to say, don’t want to be punk. Your little naming frenzy is just turning people off from a very good habit to form. Shut the hell up!

Actually, you don’t need me to tell you to shut up. Do it yourself.